2017/18 Oregon Washington ice

[Peter Way]

This is what is to be had on the Eliot right now.

Have at it.

[JasonG]

I guess that looks OK.

[John Douglass]

Alright glad to see the chain started! Was out ski touring yesterday 12/10/17 around Alpental. There was a party at the base of Chair Peak northeast buttress but didn't actually see them climbing. Thin smears of ice on the lower part of the NF could be fun.

[NikiY]

On Saturday I went to Alpental to check on Practice Gully. It is not in.

 

 

[montypiton]

this is the first year since 1981 - year I moved to Leavenworth - that the Funnel (main line on Hubba Hubba hill), has not been climbable by mid-December.  Walked in to Eightmile Lake yesterday, and noted a half-dozen or so climbable flows, including one that stair-stepped up for five pitches.  I'm aware of no beta for any of these.  Sorry,  too lazy and digitally illiterate to provide photos.  "if ya wanna know, ya hafta go"

-Haireball

 

[Priti]

I got a couple photos of you Peter. 

It was good to meet you!

Edited December 13, 2017 by Priti

[JeffreyW]

Priti and I climbed the North Face of Chair Peak on Saturday 12/16.  Thanks, John Douglass for the pictures!  Approach snow was deep.  Recommend skis/snowshoes, but kick-stepping wasn't so bad.  The first pitch had nice, consistent, solid, THIN ICE for 60m, maybe WI3.  It was so stinking fun if you like thin, unprotectable ice.  I got one good stubby in over the whole 60m pitch.  We had rock pro and pitons but didn't find them helpful.  Pitches 2-4 (to summit) were snow over rock with occasional thin ice for protection.  Snow is too shallow and loose for pickets.  Only used trees and stubby's for pro. Existing anchors every 60m.  Red link cam backed up the anchor on pitch 1.

NE Buttress of Chair Peak.  Only one party of 2 attempted it and bailed due to loose snow.  

Pitch 1 on the North Face - 60m thin ice, some thicker ice near the top of the pitch.

Upper pitches of North Face of Chair Peak.  Snow over rock with thin ice.  Deep snow to the False Summit and more snow-over-rock to the summit.

Summit selfie

Summit

East Face of Chair Peak.  There is avy debris in this bowl now.  When we rappelled onto the slope from the standard descent, we triggered a slab avalanche which went 500 feet down, crown was .5-2ft deep and 15m wide.  Be careful of avy danger here as always!  I would wear beacon/shovel probe to the base of the climb, and also for the descent from the summit.

Lots of rain in the Pass on Sunday, so no promises.

Enjoy!

Edited December 20, 2017 by JeffreyW

[YocumRidge]

Anyone been to Banks Lake? Been cold there for a while..

[AnthonyL]

5 hours ago, YocumRidge said:

Anyone been to Banks Lake? Been cold there for a while..

Headed there Tuesday to take a gander.

[YocumRidge]

12 hours ago, AnthonyLubetski said:

Headed there Tuesday to take a gander.

Nice! Please, report back.

[aikidjoe]

Wondering if there is any news on Banks Lake? Thank you!

[Doug_Hutchinson]

Did a quick drive by Banks on way home from Canada yesterday. I would describe conditions as anemic. There isn't enough moisture from seeps or snow melt to build chubby ice now.

None of the Devil's Punch Bowl climbs or Champagne are close.

Here are shitty pics of the best ice I saw. Children of the Sun, the Cable (can TR but fragile), Xenith (not close):

 

[aikidjoe]

Thank you!!

[geosean]

Just posted a report on Millennium Wall near Leavenworth:

 

[ggres335]

Banks as of  01/01/18 Had about 6 people total along the whole E. shore bringing in the New Year the right way.   ...thin and raining death from above.

The last two (sorry for poor quality) are Hubba Hubba (looks thin from the road) and R&D in Icicle Creek for some mixed. Should be good in 2-3 weeks.

 

..anyone have any condition reports/ beta on Guye S. gully this season? its been in the clouds the last 3 times I went over the pass... really want to get up there soon and when its in good condition. 

[aikidjoe]

My buddy and I climbed part of S Gulley of Guye 2 weekends ago. It was fun but precarious at the time; the easy short mixed sections had crappy thin ice that fell apart as you climbed and had very poor pro, and the sections between didn't have enough snow to make for easy plodding between, so everything took longer than we hoped. That combined with a late start, short days, and a strong spindrift avalanche that was close but fortunately missed us, we turned around about 2/3 of the way up! It was fun though, and maybe with more snow and a melt-freeze, it'll be really good soon.

Edited January 4, 2018 by aikidjoe

[Peter Way]

Went back up onto the Eliot Glacier yesterday.   The ice is still in good shape.

Got me thinking however.   I've not seen or heard this climb named anywhere.   I've no doubt this thing has been climbed many times, cause, if your hiking up the Eliot, well there it is in full view.    It's at 8000 feet and forms up early most years.   So I came up with a name for it.    I'd like to call it  "The Cooper 30"  Cause it's 30m tall hangs off Cooper Spur.

If anyone knows of it being named previously please speak up.

Edited January 8, 2018 by Peter Way

[el jefe]

Peter, how long is the approach hike? 

[Doug_Hutchinson]

Just like everyone knows the best rock climbing area in Oregon is Beacon Rawk, in years like this one the best WA ice is found in Lil'wet. A cold air mass has been parked north of the border for the past several weeks so the ice up there now is good.

On Saturday, Wayne and I climbed Capricorn = a classic Lillooet WI5 in the isolated Bridge River Valley.

Sunday, we got the second ascent of Bitcoin Billionaire, a route first climbed a week ago by Danny O'Farrell, Hunter Lee and Steve Janes located a little out of view of the top of the pic above. It is a 7 pitch, M5/6, WI4 insta-classic with all the alpine essentials: a river ford, a snow slog to the base high up the valley, a fragile pillar start, two cool mixed chimneys, and a final phat curtain. The only thing missing was a bear attack, maybe someday.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Doug_Hutchinson

[Doug_Hutchinson]

Add - uploading IG photos to CC.com from my phone in the back of a bar was so easy with the new software even I could do it after a few drinks, but they sure look funny (more saturated and pixelated) now that I am in front of a computer. Oh well, any content is better than no content.

Edited January 16, 2018 by Doug_Hutchinson

[JasonG]

IG photos are tiny and often have all sorts of weirdness done to them to make them look "cool".  This doesn't translate well on the big screen.  If you have the originals accessible on your phone, much better to post those to cc.com. 

 

BUT, like you said, any content is better than no content!    You were actually out climbing while I was wandering muddy trails with my kiddos.

[HHinkkala]

Nice work on climbing both those routes over the weekend!

I'm curious how you approached capricorn, did you have to climbed any of the millar pillar routes (unsure if they are in?), or were you able to go around them? I tried to go left up another drainage and got totally lost last year so any info would be much appreciated!

Cheers!

[bedellympian]

After Image is in WI5+ shape apparently...

Anyone got conditions on I-Rock?